I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to a Bathroom.
Back when I was 19 years old, my morning travel meant taking an crowded coach. It was perpetually full and invariably became completely full by the time I stepped aboard.
During a certain commute, I began feeling terribly ill as the bus lurched around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to hold on another few kilometres until the bus reached my destination, at which point I could make a mad dash for the nearest public restroom to be sick.
As we neared the street towards the stop when I understood I would not be to last. All of a sudden, it seemed a fog descended upon me. The world became hazy and muffled; like someone had muted everything. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.
Fortunately, I stood near the front of the bus, so I managed several steps to ask the driver and told the operator to open the doors, informing him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.
I was resolved not to vomit in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and started trying to make my way across to the park opposite the street, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself behind a bush to throw up. Yet I must have fainted. I was aware of my body but I was unable to walk or see clearly, so I began inching my way to the grassy area.
“You right, love?”
At that moment, someone picked me up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I had to to vomit. So he virtually helped me walk into an adjacent building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to stay with me but I declined.
Not long after, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit down when from beyond the door came him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to get up right away but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period recovered the use of my legs. I returned home passing the following days getting over what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.
I never glimpsed that man’s face – merely his legs and the big metal toolbox he held – but he saved me, at a moment I was completely helpless.
Often this world tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that protective shell. He was proof that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a quality I adore in other people.
